Comics v. the World

Comic books are a form of literature and should be for anyone to enjoy without judgment… PERIOD. This may come off as biased from a female comic-book enthusiast, but I am also an English major who has explored different types of writing ranging from novels to articles. Considering my specialty is in creative writing, I can say any piece of writing meant for the purpose of expression, whether of the self or of the world around them, is literature. And literature is an art, which many seem to forget; art is meant to be enjoyed by all.

Comic books are more often seen as a silly form of art, not actual literature, meant to entertain a group that doesn’t know anything about the real world and are stuck in their bubble and refuse to get out – or that's the stigma from my perspective. Don’t even get me started on how most dedicated moviegoers view comic-book-based movies. But overall, this form of literature is definitely NOT taken seriously in the writing world. 

Comic books have the same effect that your favorite books may have on you: a source of entertainment and an opportunity to escape reality. Comic books are meant to create a world other than your own, an opportunity to put yourself in a place where you believe you belong or create people that belong around you, to represent your own world was once my way of being able to maintain some stability in my life. Whenever I went through a situation that left me stressed, annoyed, upset, etc, I used these characters as my therapy and at times, I would even put myself in their shoes to find an answer or solution to my problems. When I was younger, I was a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Captain America because I admired who he tried to become and his development, to know that you have to do what’s right not because you think you should or are being told to but because you know in your heart that you are meant to. 

I’ve created characters in my head to escape a world and be in one different than my own, and I’ve used that imagination to bring my sister to life. I had a sister who passed away at birth a few years before I was born, making me a rainbow baby. For years I’ve wondered what life would be like with her by my side. I imagine her being a replica of our mother: lighter than me in complexion, long, dark-brown curly hair with freckles; the only difference is that she’s taller than me. She’s the logical one and I’m the emotional one. She is headstrong and blunt but moves with grace. She’s the water to my fire and the air to my earth… literally. In this made-up world, together we channel the elements and we can’t have one without the other. This imagined reality has helped me feel more connected to my sister even if I don’t know how she would have turned out if she got the chance to grow up. Comic books and movies helped me wonder if there was a universe outside of ours where she existed alongside me.

Whatever the reason you create your own characters or hyper focus on specific storylines created by another author, it’s the same reason why some like myself enjoyed reading the Percy Jackson series; why some enjoy reading Shakespeare or Jane Austen or Colleen Hoover, and why many college students decide to acquire an English major. It’s all related, just told and represented differently.

With that being said, there is definitely a problem within the comic-book-loving community itself: there’s an idea that women can’t enjoy comics in the same way as men can, that women do not have the capacity to take the form seriously. This subculture of toxic masculinity within that community is very common; with the increase of female lead characters and what they represent, Captain Marvel being one of them, male comic fans have judged these characters for being “overpowered” or “too feminist” for whatever reason other than the fact that they are strong women. I personally am not a fan of Captain Marvel, but that’s for reasons of my own—she is just too cocky for my taste. But her powers are really cool. At the moment, I’ve been fixated on Black Cat and Emma Frost, who both seem pretty badass to me. I will always have Black Widow in my heart; she was one of the first comic books I ever owned.

There are over 20 million self-identified comic fans, with nearly half of them being women. Although I don’t know every single detail about Marvel Comics, it does not reduce my level of love for them and my ability to educate myself about them. Since the first X-Men and Tobey Maquire’s Spiderman, I have always gravitated towards Marvel’s characters. It was a world that I wanted to be part of since I was in middle school, whether in my dreams or as a part of the company itself. Still, I sometimes come across some sort of backhanded comments from the opposite gender. For example, I have gotten comments like, “Oh I’m surprised you know about this!” and “You actually pay attention to comics?” coming from fellow schoolmates. Repeatedly, I have come across male counterparts who have questioned me to see if my appreciation for Marvel is “valid.” A few people in my life have tried to test me to feed their own ego, only to be embarrassed when I have corrected them on information they implied that I didn’t know enough about (aka my sister’s ex-boyfriend). Every time I get asked, “Who’s your favorite Marvel character?” I think to myself “Here we go again, and watch them complain.'' God forbid my answer is a character that recently became popular, like the Scarlet Witch, even if I knew them before their popularity. Imagine someone basically implying that I can’t properly enjoy a form of writing because it’s more “for the guys” and “I wouldn't understand.”

There’s also the idea that women only like looking at comics and their movies for pleasure, as if men are not known for doing the same! (Which is why a lot of female characters look the way they do in comics.) It’s a problem that there is lack of representation not only of different cultures, but of a whole gender. Representation matters; it's about showing people to see how others live and how they want to be seen.

There’s no need to judge people for what they like; everyone’s allowed to be their own individual and find their escape. Comics are not for everyone, but they can be loved by anyone.